Mayor declines trip donation after council members disapprove

Mayor Stven Choi, second from the left, said he reached out to a number of sources to help defray costs of the planned October friendship and trade mission to Taiwan and South Korea. ANGELA PIAZZA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Irvine Mayor Steven Choi recently said “thanks, but no thanks” to an offer from Taiwanese businessmen to contribute $3,000 toward the city’s October friendship and trade mission to Taiwan and South Korea after at least two City Council members publically opposed accepting the funds.

The money would have helped pay for Choi and city staff to visit two of Irvine’s sister cities.

During the Sept. 10 Irvine City Council meeting at which the mission was approved, Choi said he was “absolutely delighted” to announce that he had found a way to subsidize the cost of the trip. But a few hours later, after council members disapproved of the Taiwanese offer, Choi followed their direction by declining the offer.

“To my surprise, I guess my colleagues, they had pride, and said, ‘Steven you don’t have to do that,’” Choi said. “It will be much cleaner not to ask for any money.”

Council members Christina Shea and Larry Agran said they worried that accepting the money would make the city look bad and might even land Choi in legal trouble with the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) – a group which investigates alleged violations of the Political Reform Act, including financial conflicts of interest and large gifts given to public officials.

“One of the problems that I have with travel, is that unless the City Council is paying for it, you start getting the money from this trade group and that association and a few other people and depend on the kindness of strangers, you’re going to get in trouble with the FPPC and it looks like hell,” Agran said. “It looks really bad. It looks like people are trying to get a little piece of you for whatever financial interests they might have.”

Nothing in Choi’s proposed funding of the trip suggests that the donation would have violated the Political Reform Act, though. While the gift was more than the $440 cap that can be given to public officials under the Act, the contribution would have been legal because it was directed toward the city and not Choi.

The case illustrates the intricacies of political fundraising and gift-giving.

Irvine City Manager Sean Joyce said Choi and he had conferred with Irvine’s city attorney to ensure Choi was not violating any law in soliciting funds for the trade mission.

Choi said he reached out to a number of sources while seeking to defray costs of the trip and that Irvine attorney Calvin Yap responded with the offer from the Taiwanese businessmen. Yap did not return calls for comment.

When asked why Taiwanese businessmen would want to donate money for the trip, Choi said, “I am going to Taiwan to establish business with Taiwan, so American and Taiwanese people will benefit.”

Councilwoman Beth Krom said she not only opposed accepting the Taiwanese money, but was also critical that Choi had solicited donations and had begun to set up the trade mission before the council had even approved the trip.

“There are a lot of things about the way that this has been brought forward that have been not well thought out,” Krom said.

The total cost of the October friendship and trade mission has yet to be determined, but a 2009 friendship and trade mission to Korea and Japan was estimated to cost around $2,000 per person. Choi said the cost of the upcoming trip could be absorbed within the city’s already-approved budget.

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